Snake versus fish

July 22, 2018 by Mike Powell

Anyone who has ever gone fishing has a story of “the one that got away.” This Northern Water Snake (Nerodia sipedon) wanted to make sure that it did not have such a story to tell and dragged its prey onto dry land. Then the snake faced the challenge of figuring out how to swallow the large fish. The snake twisted and turned and contorted its body and head as it gradually ingested the fish. When the fish was part way down its throat, the snake appeared to push up against a log for additional leverage.

I captured a sequence of shots that speak for themselves, so I will not bother to explain each of them. Like me, you will probably feel a kind of macabre mixture of horror and fascination as you view them.

Posted in Fish, Nature, Photography, Reptiles, Summer, wildlife | Tagged Canon SX50, Great Falls VA, Nerodia sipedon, Northern Water Snake, Northern Watersnake, Riverbend Park, snake versus fish | 9 Comments

9 Responses

on July 22, 2018 at 4:46 pm | Reply New Hampshire Garden Solutions

I’ve heard that those snakes will eat just about anything that moves. Including lots of sand, apparently.
- on July 22, 2018 at 5:03 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  I can’t decide if the sand is the Original Recipe or Extra Crispy. I guess the snake decided that it had to accept a little extra sand rather than risk having the fish escape. I have seen herons dip fish in the water sometimes just before swallowing them.
  - on July 22, 2018 at 5:07 pm New Hampshire Garden Solutions
    
    Either way, that’s a great series of shots. There’s a lot to be said for being in the right place at the right time.
on July 22, 2018 at 11:23 pm | Reply Laura (PA Pict)

What a fantastic set of shots. It’s so fascinating to see the snake in action like this. I’m going to show my kids in the morning.
- on July 23, 2018 at 8:42 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  This is the kind of thing that boys of all ages will like–I hope that doesn’t sound too sexist. It’s a guy thing. 🙂
on July 23, 2018 at 5:01 am | Reply centralohionature

Great capture!
on July 23, 2018 at 8:24 am | Reply Ellen Jennings

Great series, Mike! Just amazing that a snake could catch a fish that big and that no bird came along to steal it!
- on July 23, 2018 at 8:48 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Ellen. Fortunately for the snake there were not many birds nearby, though I did see some cormorants in the distance.
on July 23, 2018 at 4:57 pm | Reply Ellen

When I saw this post yesterday, Benjamin was no longer here. I was unsure about sharing this with him, worried that it might be too graphic for him. Then this afternoon, I considered that he understands that all must eat to survive. So, I decided to show him and let him decide if he wanted to see the photos. He somberly looked at each one and asked me to “make them big”. He examined each in turn, photo by photo, not saying a word. When we got to #7, he said : “that is so disgusting!” I said that it is pretty yucky seeing the snake eat a whole fish. Whereupon, Benjamin looked at me and said : “Gem, the snake is eating the sand, that’s disgusting!” Silly me! Thank-you, Mr. Mike!!